The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Breakdown of buses throws traffic out of gear

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Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Breakdown of buses throws traffic out of gear

Staff Reporter

Takes more than 2 hours for the police to restore normal traffic movement

Utter chaos: Traffic jam at Khairatabad flyover on Monday.

HYDERABAD: Evening peak hour traffic went for a toss at Necklace road, Khairatabad, Banjara Hills and Punjagutta on Monday evening as five RTC buses broke down on trunk routes.

It took more than two hours for the police to restore normal traffic movement in these bustling areas while commuters got stuck at several places.

If diverting the vehicles to other routes was a tough task since the five buses broke down during peak hours, taking cranes to the point to shift the buses was even more difficult task as traffic gridlock formed at these places.

A bus got stuck in the middle of the road on Road No. 1/12 of Banjara Hills near Music World resulting in choc-a-block situation. “With much difficulty, we took a crane to the point but the bus couldn't be moved. Hence, another crane was pressed into service,” the Banjara Hills traffic Inspector, V. Surya Chander, said. This exercise of taking cranes in the bumper-to-bumper traffic to the bus breakdown point consumed an hour and in the process only worsened the traffic movement on the roads which were already choked. Even as the ripple effect threw traffic out of gear on connected routes, another bus broke down near Vidyut Soudha building on Khairatabad-Punjagutta road.

As the traffic police rushed to tow the bus, another bus got stuck before a sweet shop near the Institute of Engineers building on Khairatabad, holding up traffic on the route for an hour. Conceding that commuters were put to difficulty, the traffic police said they were helpless in such situations as reaching the vehicle that broke down itself was a tough task with vehicles stuck everywhere.

To make things worse for the police, two buses coming in opposite direction broke down within a short distance in Krishnanagar bringing traffic movement to a grinding halt on Jubilee Hills, check-post, Yousufguda and Krishnagar localities. With the help of constables and passers-by, the police towed the buses to a side, making way for other vehicles.

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